Devices which can capture and digitally store an image on a flash memory card are becoming more commonplace as the cost of these devices and their attendant memory cards continues to decrease. In addition, devices such as digital cameras and scanners are becoming more popular as the resolution of the images captured by these devices continues to improve and approach the quality of traditional film photography. However, in order to obtain a “picture” from these devices, it is still necessary to process and print the captured digital images. The processing and printing of digital images can include transferring graphic files from a memory, such as a flash memory card, to a computer, and the subsequent printing of the images from the computer.
Traditionally, a computer was connected via a parallel port to a printer, with the printer being driven by the computer to print selected images. In this scenario, editing and manipulation of the digital images was achieved via software processed by the computer. Subsequently, stand-alone printers were developed which enabled the digital images to be input directly to the printer via flash memory cards, and manipulated and printed directly through the printer. An exemplary stand-alone photoprinter is shown and disclosed in a patent application entitled “Printer Apparatuses And Methods For Using The Same” and having Ser. No. 09/164,500, filed on Oct. 1, 1998, which is owned by the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference. With this printer, each image on an input memory card is assigned a photo number, and a thumbnail depiction of all the images and assigned photo numbers is printed to facilitate selection of the desired image. After the desired image is selected, the appropriate photo number is designated via a two line by sixteen character liquid crystal display or “LCD” using activating buttons located on an operator panel. After a photo number is entered to select an image, the image may be formatted such as, for example, by cropping, adding text, or framing the image. The image is formatted by selecting from amongst a series of menu options which are depicted alphanumerically on the LCD display. After the options are entered, the formatted image is transferred to a printable medium by activating a print button on the operator panel.
While stand-alone photoprinters are beneficial in that they enable the printing of digitally captured images without a general purpose computer, one drawback is that they do not provide for viewing the selected, formatted image prior to printing. Thus, the user has to wait several minutes for a printed copy of the image before determining whether the image was formatted correctly, or even whether the correct image was selected. If the image is incorrect, the user must select again, or reformat the same image and print a new copy. This repeated printing of images in an effort to obtain the correct one wastes ink and paper.
Another drawback with existing stand-alone printers is that the wide variety of complex formatting options available to the user can become confusing when working with only a two line by sixteen character text display. In particular, to format an image a user must often move between multiple menu levels and settings within each level. With only a small text display, it is easy for a user to become disoriented and lose track of all of the available options and the current position within the menu structure.
It is known to attach an external display device such as a video monitor or television screen to a printer in order to view digitally captured images prior to printing. It is also known to connect a printer to a digital camera in order to view images on the camera display prior to printing. However, such arrangements add to the complexity of the printing process since additional hardware and communication links are required to transfer the image from the printer to the external monitor. Further, the use of a separate video monitor for viewing images inhibits the portability of the printer.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a stand-alone printing apparatus which includes an integrated graphical user interface display for previewing selected and formatted images prior to printing. Further, it is desirable to have such a stand-alone printing apparatus which facilitates the interactive viewing and editing of digitally derived images and output pages prior to printing. In addition, it is desirable to have such a stand-alone printing apparatus in which complex formatting functions are arranged in a user-friendly fashion.